Pope John Paul II warmly received Stanley Roseman and Ronald Davis at the Vatican on March 21, the feast day of St. Benedict of Nursia.

     The Polish Pope was in the first six months of his pontificate in 1979 and had not yet returned to his homeland. Acutely aware of the difficulty for those outside the Eastern Bloc Countries to obtain the necessary entry visas as well as to travel on their own behind the then Iron Curtain, Pope John Paul expressed his appreciation to Roseman and Davis for their having made the journey to Poland.

     Roseman and Davis presented the Pope with a gift of the artist's beautiful drawing Brother Florian Playing the Recorder from the Benedictine Abbey of Tyniec, near Krakow. Pope John Paul had been Archbishop of Krakow before his election to the papacy.

     Roseman's chalk drawing on gray paper of Brother Florian, with fine facial features, dark hair, and beard, depicts the young Polish monk absorbed in his music.

     Heartily shaking Roseman's hand, Pope John Paul II said he was ''deeply moved'' by Roseman's paintings and drawings, a selection of which he previously had seen in photographs prior to his meeting the artist, as well as from the gift of the drawing that Roseman presented to the Pontiff. Pope John Paul, who had a personal interest in the arts from the days of his youth, greatly encouraged Roseman in his work.

     Reaffirming what the Abbot Primate wrote, Pope John Paul praised Roseman as "a great artist" and expressed his admiration for the scope and spiritual depth of his work on the monastic life. The saintly Pope took hold of Roseman's arm as they spoke and said:

On the feast day of St. Benedict of Nursia (c.480-c.547), whose Rule called The Rule of St. Benedict is the basis of monastic observance in the Western Church, Pope John Paul II warmly received at the Vatican on March 21, 1979, Stanley Roseman, who is of the Jewish faith, and his colleague Ronald Davis, of the Roman Catholic faith.

     The memorable occasion was preceded by a gracious invitation to Roseman and Davis from the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Order, Dom Victor Dammertz, to be guests at his residence in Rome.

     Dom Victor Dammertz, O.S.B, Abbot Primate of the Order of St. Benedictine, invited Roseman and Davis as his guests at the abbot's residence, the Badia Primaziale Sant'Anselmo, in Rome, in winter of 1979. Roseman made the journey to monasteries across Europe with Davis, who wrote the letters to monasteries to introduce his colleague's work, relate the artist's interest in monastic life as a subject for his paintings and drawings, and make a request for a sojourn. Davis helped with research on the the subject of monasticism and the planning of an itinerary, and he took on the responsibilities of organizing the project as he had done for their Lappland journey.

     The Abbot Primate was greatly encouraging to Roseman for his work on the monastic life. In letter to the Vatican, the Abbot Primate writes:

     Pope John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. He was elected to the papacy in 1978. Pope John Paul II passed away on April 2, 2005, and was beatified in 2011. Pope John Paul II was canonized on April 27, 2014.